


Run Around The Hall

by petitepc



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, BoyxBoy, Bullying, Cutting, Depression, Homophobic Language, M/M, Multi, Prostitution, References to Drugs, Seventeen members mentioned, meanie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 04:59:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10550460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petitepc/pseuds/petitepc
Summary: He still wonders what it would be like if he was still there, sitting by his desk and reading that novel of his.





	1. Start

Not long ago there went a student in the same school as him, same classroom, almost the same schedule but never had he paid too much attention to him until a few months ago.

He was brilliant. The brains to solve every problem given to him on paper and never had he bragged about it. He didn't know if he wasn't narcissistic or just didn't speak at all because of the fear he felt every time he let a single word out of his mouth.

He himself was fully aware of the judgmental stares lingering in the back of the room, frightening every single person that didn't have the guts to stand up for themselves. They were like wild beasts, feeding off helpless animals that were physically and mentally unstable.

That was their way of life and Mingyu didn't want to be a part of any of it. It wasn't that he was afraid, but completely done with the standards of fitting in. It was tough, how a little mistake could revolve into being left out of your group of friends and considered a useless part of society.

It wasn't their whole life but they sure as hell acted like it. And the tall boy noticed the struggle the genius had of staying out of their way, though they somehow always found his flaws and weaknesses.

He still remembers how he watched their classmates pick on him from his desk by messing up his papers and taking his glasses, sometimes even breaking them. Mingyu felt bad for him and desperately wanted to help him put his papers together but decided against it.

The glances they'd sometimes send each other were too many to count. Even if it was brief moments between the two, Mingyu had to admit it was more than just two students meeting gazes in class or lunch break.

Mingyu adored the others dark orbs. Most of the time they seemed lifeless, as if he was empty inside – which he probably was. But at rare occasions his eyes held so much emotion, waiting to spill.

He remembers an incident that once happened. It was fall and school had just started. That day many didn’t bother to show up since they wanted a longer summer break but Mingyu knew they’d be back soon enough after the principal made a few calls in his office.

It was messy in the mess hall to say at least. Messier than it usually was but he knew the reason was that the previous seniors had graduated, moving on to university or dropping out and a bunch of freshmen had started going here so it took a while before everyone made friends and settled in.

He himself sat in a small table along with his friends in the far end of the room. He admit it that they were many in his circle of friends but they didn’t all sit together at the same time and it was rare if they did.

Jihoon, a well-known and feared musical genius and also one of his close friends told them that they’d better make room for more people as he had promised his younger brother that he would hang out with him so he wouldn’t feel lonely.

Mingyu had no problem to adapt new environment and accept new people. He liked being around big crowds, it calmed him to know that he wasn’t alone. He felt secure.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like being alone. He doesn’t mind being alone sometimes but it didn’t make him feel anything special.

His train of thoughts came to a halt when he heard laugher erupt in the room. Startled, he looked up along with his friends and saw from across the room the boy from some of his classes. He was pushed down to the floor and in front of him stood two buff guys. They held his open bag and dangled it around. From it was dripping red sauce that they must’ve poured in.

The one holding it threw it down at him and laughed even louder along the other. Mingyu saw the boy quickly scramble up from his position and grab his things, making a dash towards the exit.

“Poor boy. I wonder what he did to deserve that.” He heard Jeonghan, the second oldest of the group, mutter in a small voice obviously feeling bad for him. It wasn’t surprising to find him caring of others he didn’t even know as he was the ‘mother’ of the group. Mingyu frowned to himself and quickly stood up, startling everyone at the table.

“Where are you going? There’s still like 30 minutes left of lunch break.” Their youngest friend, Vernon said and gently grabbed onto his sleeve. Mingyu shook his hand off his clothing and slung his bag over his shoulder. “I’m off to somewhere.”

“Where exactly? You don’t have any other people to be around than us. And Seungcheol-hyung is sick so you can’t go to his place.” Soonyoung – or Hoshi as they called him – spoke this time while back hugging Jihoon who was highly annoyed by him. Even if they were a couple Jihoon sure didn’t act like it, or at not least in front of them.

“I don’t know, I’ll see where.” He said rushed and headed off, almost bolting out of the door in a hurried matter.

“Ah, so bothersome…” Minghao mumbled and leaned forward, snatching Junhui’s dumpling. The other Chinese boy yelled in Mandarin after he noticed the disappearance of his delicious food.

 

Running around the school ground, Mingyu for the first time noticed how beautiful the nature was. The sky was a clear blue and the grass seemed much greener than the last time he actually payed attention to it. Even if today seemed to be a good day with perfect weather he felt hopeless when he realized that he didn’t know where to look for the boy with the ruined bag.

What to call him, he didn’t know as they’ve never actually talked before during his entire time there. Heck, he had only heard him speak a few times in class and that was it. He knew he sounded pathetic when he told himself that there might be something special between them but at the moment he wanted to, for once, believe it.

Mingyu turned left and stopped running, stopping completely when he saw a rather petite body leaning against a tree. A stained bag that was in his hands a second ago was thrown to the ground. The boy exhaled a sigh and sat down on the ground.

Mingyu slowly approached him quietly and the latter doesn’t seem to notice his presence until he looks up from between his legs.

“W-what do you want? If you’re here to bully me, leave me alone. I’ve been through enough for one day…” He spoke panicked while being stared down at by the taller.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to pick on you.” He stared blankly, noticing tears in the corner of his eyes. The other quickly wiped them away while still wearing a blank expression.

“… Then why are you here?”

“Mind if I sit here?” Mingyu asked, already taking a seat next to him and not bothering to wait for an answer.

“Why would you bother with someone like me?” The latter said, voice now clear from emotion. He traced his finger on the hard ground and grasped onto the small rocks. Mingyu looked at him keenly, raising his right eyebrow.

“What do you mean by that? Is there something wrong with you?”

The brown-headed boy glanced at him with an unimpressed look on his face and Mingyu began to pounder on the reasons why he was picked at. Even after a minute of suffocating silence he hadn’t managed to figure it out. When he thought about it long and hard the boy was much alike the small minority of students that attended the hellhole, average and quiet (or so he thought). The shorter had traits that ignorant people found hard to find and didn’t stand out too much.

“Is it really that hard to figure it out?” He sighed after not getting a response from the younger. “It’s because I’m easy to pick on. I’m an introvert with no friends, I have no idea where my dad went and my mom’s a whore.”

Mingyu slightly flinched at his harsh words but tried his best not to show his sympathy. He shouldn’t be surprised, really, even his friends expected some sort of burden the quiet boy had to carry – yet he was. But at the same time amazed on how well he has been able to not let any emotions slip.

“I just remembered, what’s your name?”

“After what I told you, that’s what you have to say?”

Mingyu grinned. “I mean, you’re telling me about your life story and I don’t even have a fucking clue what your name is.”

“I’m not telling you my “life story”, idiot.” The tiniest small on his lips didn’t go unnoticed. “Jeon Wonwoo.”

He still had a big grin plastered on his face as he turned to stand up. Wownoo observed his actions closely.

“Since you have no friends maybe we could be..?”

The older chuckled and stared up with him.

“Maybe.”

 

It was far from the first time he’d come home to the smell of cigarettes and _sex_ in his own “home” as Wonwoo would call it. Noises were coming from the bedroom in the far end of the hall and Wownoo knew it was nothing special – just his mother pleasing a miserable man for money which she’d use around 75% of it for drugs and shitty revealing clothes.

He made a quick escape from the dirty room and into his own room, the only room where he had a lock on other than the main bathroom (which he didn’t use since that was where his mother would doze off after a few drinks, just by the toilet bowl).

He gripped onto his wrist after he threw his bag onto the neat bed of his. Approaching the drawer, he started opening and closing drawers, hurriedly looking for _it_ , his precious and now second friend.

He exhaled a sigh of relief and brought the sharp objects up, in front of his eyes to see the gorgeous shimmering edge that would soon enough be pressed against his already scarred skin.


	2. Finish

In every classroom in their school there was door leading to a small room. Students that had ADHD or difficulty concentrating and learning were allowed in there after lessons from their mentor. The room wasn’t anything special, mostly resembling any other room, the difference being that it only had a few chairs and tables so they were only able to cram one bookshelf in.

Wownoo didn’t have any concentration problems what so ever, it was just that he finished his work quicker. He topped his class so the teachers took a liking to him and gave him permission to sit inside the room to read or study alone. They were all only a little aware of the teasing and bullying, as well as his anxiety around big crowds.

The boy spent majority of his time in there, therefore making friends with some of the students he never knew he would ever even approach. Soonyoung was one of them, a very friendly and humorous guy who was hyper 90% of the time. Due to his hyperactivity and impulsivity he wasn’t able to finish essays and school work in time and was rarely studying outside of the small room. Though that didn’t affect his ability to make friends with anyone he wanted to.

There was also Junhui. Wownoo was very impressed with him being able to learn a new language so quickly despite being a transfer student and having insomnia. Jun had explained to him the thoughts that appeared every night and how they caused him stress. Whenever he was inside the main classroom he seemed to snap at everyone and everything due to the lack of sleep and malfunction of his brain.

Wonwoo learned a lot of things from them both. Both Soonyoung and Junhui were dancers of some sort. They spent roughly 2 hours of practice every day in an underground dancing hall to relive stress from school and home. It wasn’t too hard to image how much dancing meant to them due to the fact that he read a lot of books and knew how to think himself into scenarios. Not to mention the anxious thoughts he’d get everyday involving a lot of ‘what if’s’.

Two days ago he also learned that they were both good friends with Mingyu – his new friend that he made about a week ago. They would pass in the halls and stop whatever they were doing to catch up on how things were going. It was mostly Mingyu who talked since Wonwoo wasn’t talkative at all and during their conversations the taller would always ask if everything was okay in school or at home.

He didn’t fully get his concern but he knew better than to open up about personal and sensitive issues to friends, he wasn’t that clueless about what was okay to mention and what was not.

“It was really embarrassing after we realized we barged into another classroom. The teacher didn’t even seem to want apologizes and only yelled at us for like half the lesson.” Mingyu grinned and rubbed his neck, letting out a small laugh. Wonwoo observed the others face as he lightened up the mood, he always did. “Anyway, I was wondering if you’d maybe want to go with me and some of my friends to this diner after school. It’s Friday as well so you could loosen up a little.”

He was caught off guard at the request, fumbling over words. It was the first time being invited for a hang out and the brown-haired boy worried. He worried about messing up or saying the wrong things.

“I don’t know… M-maybe.”

Mingyu pouted. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Jun will be there as well. How about it?” He tried, remembering to mention one of his friends the latter was familiar with so he wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable.

“Uh… Alright. I’ll come but only for a little while. I have to be home before my mom returns.” He muttered after thinking about it for a minute. He decided to give it a shot and if he’d feel suffocated Mingyu would surely understand.

“Awesome! It’ll be fun I promise.” Mingyu smiled brightly and turned to leave but coming to a halt. He hurriedly turned around again, fishing for something in his pocket making Wonwoo raise a brow. “I just remembered I don’t have your number.”

The latter nodded hesitantly and took his phone out as well. They bid their goodbyes after exchanging phone numbers and for some strange reason, Wonwoo’s was beating a bit faster.

He leaned dramatically back against the wall after watching the taller walk away and exhaled a sigh he didn’t know he was holding. He suddenly felt the need to calm himself down from whatever was making him anxious. While he was doing that he observed his surroundings. For as long as he remembered, school had always been number one on his list of ‘places he’d rather die than go to’. He liked learning but the government and the ones in charge had always failed at making school a safe place, especially for people like him.

Along with everyone else, Wonwoo was tired of having to listen to politicians dry lies of ‘creating a better society’ and wanted nothing more than to speak up against them. But that would only make everything worse. He would be accused of being disrespectful and rude and the bullying would worsen. He was already known by his bullies as the ‘whore child’ which was partly true. If he was honest he still had no idea how they found out about his mother or his background in general but he expected them doing something illegal.

Even if he was observing Wonwoo had been lost in his own thoughts to notice the small crowd forming around him. He recognized them immediately and groaned internally. “What do you want?” He tried his best not to show his annoyance and succeeded seeing that the leader of the boys with messed clothes, loosened ties and the girls with too much makeup on their faces, their expression was still blank despite the harsh greeting.

“We were bored and decided to come here when we saw your dumb ass staring into space. I’m quite happy you aren’t in class at the moment.” She spoke, her stare piercing through him while still bearing a blank expression. It was just then Wonwoo realized the hallway was empty, that everyone had already left for their classes and that they could now do whatever they wanted with him. The situation was worse than he thought.

“That can’t be it. I know you have some sort of reason approaching me in the middle of the school day and not before or after school like usual, Ae-Cha.”

Something snapped inside of her, a smirk forming on her lips. Choi Ae-Cha, infamous for turning student’s lives into a living hell. There’s a rumor going around that she forced a freshman to jump down a bridge to prove they weren’t a coward and no one had ever seen any sign of disturbance from her involving the rumor. Her name meant “loving daughter”, which was ironic since she was a manipulative bitch and her family doesn’t seem to care one bit if she disappeared one day.

“Clever little Wonwoo knows exactly what others want, just like his mom.” Her comment received dry chuckled and fake giggles from the crowd around them. “I saw you with that tall handsome guy yesterday. It didn’t look like any other conversation two guys would have. I feel like I should be surprised that you’re a faggot but I’m not.” Wonwoo growled internally at the homophobic remark. He didn’t want to question the fact that she somehow found out about their first encounter. He stopped doing that since so many people were already her slaves and would do anything to please her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He failed at keeping his tone in check and noticed right away the amusement in her eyes.

“I mean, you don’t look gay at all. You don’t act gay either so I would’ve never guessed.” Wonwoo knew better than to get angry about her offensive comments but sometimes it was difficult holding back an insult when Ae-Cha was annoying. The red-haired girl might not seem like the smartest person but Wonwoo knew the tricks up her sleeve too well by now.

“When are we going to beat him up?” A low and bored voice spoke up behind Ae-Cha and his heart beat faster, this time out of fear. He tried to get away but before he knew it he was pushed up against the wall rather violently – both his hands put to the side by four meaty and hairy hands. Ever since they started picking on him they have only gotten physical 7 times before and Wownoo was lucky that the beatings were nothing serious. This time however he could feel his fresh cuts starting to swell and it wouldn’t take long before he was bleeding.

Ae-Cha and her crowd of servants showed no mercy though as they beat him everywhere – his arms, legs and torso. He was numb by the time the forceful kicks and punches turned into slaps and hair pulls. It felt like hours when footsteps separated and disappeared into the hallway.

He didn’t have to look to know he was bleeding, blood from his cuts pouring down his arms and onto the white and green marble floor. He had to escape somewhere before someone found him. Wonwoo left the tiny puddle of blood that was just starting to form and headed towards the closest bathroom he could find. Unfortunately there were no locks so he had to cross his finger that no retard would barge in while he was cleaning himself up at this time of the day.

Everything hurt. Even slightly lifting up his sleeve caused a heavy amount of pain and the thought of just letting himself bleed to his death passed his mind more than once. Panic and anxiety crashed down onto him when he heard footsteps outside and the door being pushed open. He turned his head to meet the eyes of a gaping Mingyu. He looked exactly like a lost and confused puppy but with more horror into his expression.

Time seemed to slow down for both of them as a minute seemed like an hour. Wonwoo was the first to break the eye contact by running out of the room, while holding a wet paper towel to his bleeding wound. He seemed like some sort of coward for escaping but his mind was too messy to make up any clear plans of what to do next.

He didn’t come far as he was turned around harshly by his shoulder. Mingyu held him firmly in place. He bit his bottom lip and spoke with uncertain words and no confidence at all. He was lost.

“Who… Did this to you?” It seemed like a dumb question. Mingyu wasn’t an airhead and didn’t have to have an IQ of 140 to know the possibilities of who could’ve approached Wownoo and beat him merciless into a bloody pulp. Yet maybe asking the shorter about it would show that he cared for him. They were friends now either way.

“Could we not talk about it please?” The look he gave the puppy-like teenager showed clear emotions of bother and guilt. His dark orbs literally spelled out the sentence ‘Can we not mention this again’. Mingyu merely nodded and still kept his hand firmly on the latter’s shoulder in comfort.

The hills near their school was one of Mingyu’s favorite places to be at. On the other side of it, there was a small cliff where he’d sit to watch the rare and mesmerizing landscape. He never really brought any of his friends or love interests there. It was his special place. But he wasn’t bothered the slightest when Wownoo accepted his invitation there. He wanted to cheer him up so he asked him to tag along but now it seemed something much more than that.

“Are you still in pain?” The older nodded, staring forward with a blank face while gently holding his own hand protectively against his chest. Mingyu felt an odd desire to touch at his pale skin and push himself against his body, to feel his body temperature and hear his even breathing. It was something so beautiful with this sight. More beautiful than the view in front of them.

Wonwoo turned his head – avoiding his gaze and stared at his muscular chest. “How is it like living with your parents?”

Mingyu shifted in his position and straightened his back. “It’s nice. I have a roof over my head, food on the table and two loving parents. But I’ll never feel complete.” He suppressed a yawn and sucked on his front teeth as Wonwoo displayed no emotion.

“Why is that? Does your mom and dad fight a lot?”

Mingyu smiled. “I have two moms therefore I was adopted. And no they rarely argue.”

“So you’ve never met your real parents before?” He shook his head in response and diverted his gaze somewhere else.

“Do you feel sad about it?” Wonwoo asked yet another question. The brunette thought back t at the nights where he felt a throbbing pain in his heart. He wondered if his blood-related parents lived a happy life together – or apart. Did they think of him often or have they already forgotten?

“I wouldn’t really say I’m sad. I never really knew them so they could have been abusive for all I know. But you feel kind of empty some days knowing that you have nothing to do with the people that brought you into this world. But I’m happy now.”

Wonwoo looked up, wanting to understand completely what he meant but for the first time he couldn’t image the feeling. He wondered how it felt to be grateful of being born. He didn’t feel grateful of his own creation but he was however grateful of this boy right next to him. Maybe life wasn’t always against him.

The next week Mingyu took him to a faraway lake. They borrowed his friends bicycle for Wonwoo since his old one from when he was a child was stolen and he had no other. Mingyu happily rode next to Wonwoo on the gravel path. The sun shone brighter than most days and its rays hit the latter’s milky skin, making him look like some sort of beautiful god.

The previous day they shopped for some swimming trunks for the shorter and Mingyu had promised he would teach him how to swim. He was shocked when one day at lunch he admitted to never taking swimming lessons or even hanging out by a beach.

He was eager to say at least, eager to intervene his fingers with Wonwoo’s and to whisper gently in his ear what he had to do. His sudden attraction to the older was left unquestioned. He didn’t want to admit anything but he wasn’t going to deny the fact that he thought of his sweet lips against his own and his nimble hands caressing his.

He also didn’t question his sudden decision to look away from the younger when he started removing his shirt and also his warm cheeks. His breath got caught in his throat when he did turn around to find Wonwoo’s back turned against him while slowly entering the water. 

Mingyu followed shortly after, going deeper in. Wonwoo approached him with uncertain steps and awkwardly intervened their hands.

“We’re going in a bit more so our feet won’t touch the bottom. Latch onto me if you’re scared, I don’t mind.” He smiled comfortably, trying to reassure him he had him. Wonwoo nodded, eyes casted down. Embarrassed, they were both shy and embarrassed but it felt so good when his arm went around his shoulder and rested on Mingyu’s upper back while the taller held onto his hips as well as guiding them.

Their bodies were pushed against each other. Both of them being caught in a silent moment when their eyes locked. All their nervousness seeming to go away the longer they stared. Wonwoo almost forgetting they were in cold water when he pulled him closer till their lips touched.

The kiss was still one of the precious moments in Mingyu’s life, his first kiss shared with the boy that would forever be his first and only love. No matter what happened or what had happend.

He still remembered it like yesterday. Those lips brushing against his own, his sweet smell still on him. It was still fantastic after all those years, those years back in high school when he realized he was madly in love. Madly in love with a broken boy.

He didn’t want to fix him, it wasn’t his place to do so. It was his place to love him and cherish him. Appreciate him while he was still alive, suffering. He became his source of happiness after so many years of struggling. But all humans have a breaking point. His was in the gyms locker room, on a highchair with a rope around his neck when no one was there to watch.

He knew better not to blame himself, he was broken. It happened – it was planned out. He had to move on. Because he could do nothing about the fact his heart belonged in a dead man’s hand, the hand which he held protectively against his chest.

Jeon Wonwoo had lived his life being kicked around by everyone he knew, he lived to know what love was before death, he lived long enough to steal a man’s heart and bury it with him.

He lived until one day both their worlds ended with one last jump.

Kim Mingyu had his heart stolen and was never going to get it back.

Long ago there went a student in the same school as him, same classroom, almost the same schedule but not until now had he wished he paid more attention to him because that student would one day disappear with everything.

**Author's Note:**

> i feed off motivation and depression


End file.
